When information wanted to be free: Discursive bifurcation of information and the origins of Web 2.0
本文揭示1990年代“信息想要自由”这一格言如何限制思维，并分析Web 2.0如何通过让信息既免费又昂贵来化解矛盾，其本质并非技术突破，而是理解免费信息可产生用户数据利润的论述转变。
In the 1990s the aphorism “information wants to be free” reigned supreme, limiting our thinking in consequential ways. In actuality this aphorism was a fragment of a much more nuanced statement by Steward Brand, who also talked about “information wants to be expensive.” It seemed for quite a while that there was no resolution to the contradiction: information as both free and expensive. Eventually Web 2.0 resolved this contradiction by providing an architecture where information could be both free and expensive. Web 2.0 was not a product of technological advances: social media, wikis, big data platforms, and so forth. It was borne out of the understanding that free information on media platforms could yield profitable data on users. This article lays bare the discursive moves through which this understanding came about.